Make Mine Cr33py!

They have done it again, another great album. I will give # ratings after I give it a few more listens. This is more of a first impressions review.

1. Attack - Starting out with a brutal, almost razor like riff, you can see why they picked this as the opener. This song has the usual mood swings like most SOAD songs. Fast, quiet, slow… The chorus/pre chorus is amazing and we get some great bridge screaming by Serj. “Weaving each others lives, holding this in mind, that if we fall, we all fall, and we fall alone”. This is a very political influenced song.

2. Dreaming - The opening of this song reminds so much of something off the first album. Very fast paced. Very nice little bridge. “Someone kicked me out of my mind, I hate these thoughts I cant deny” Kind of repetitive tho.

3. Kill Rock N Rock - I love this song, but the live version is better, IMHO. The vocals on the studio version arent quite a smooth and flowing as the live version. Great rock track, very punk feel to it. The bridge is great “Eat all the grass, Eat all the grass that you want, accidents happen in the dark” Daron and Serj co-exist beautifully on this track.

4. Hypnotize - First single and title track from the album. The intro to the album is really beautiful. Great song, probably one of, if not the strongest song on the album. The lyrics are are amazin. “Why don’t you ask the kids at tinnamen square, is fashion the reason why there were there”. Great message in this track.

5. Stealing Society - This song sounds like it should be on Toxicity from the first riffs, then soon catches the mesmerize feel. “Blue Skies fading” I love this song, the bridge is absolutely brilliant, Daron’s vocals are insane. “Im a midnight, fistfight” This is one of my favorite tracks on the LP, if not my favorite.

6. Tentative - Very fast paced opening, this song screams the first album. Serj’s vocals are identical to the first soad album in the verses. “Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?” This is another one of my favorite tracks.

7. U-Fig - The opening is familiar, sounds like a peice of toxicity, and then it melts your face off with a high paced riff led screamo verse. Another song that sounds very much like the first album. “You and me should go outside and beat em beat em eat em beat em eat em” Too bad it does get repetitive.

8. Holy Mountain - We heard this live way before the album was leaked. I love this song, it is the Aerials of Hypnotize. Can’t say much about this track but that it is amazing. “Can you feel their haunting presence?” “Liar, killer, demon, back to the river”

9. Vicinity of Obsenity - I love how this song starts. “banana banana banana, terra cotta pie” This could have been on Steal this album, very much like “chic n stu”. I can’t see this song being played live, it has lots of effects and vocally would be hard to pull off even for Serj I imagine.

10. She’s like Herion - The opening riff and drums are fab. “Selling Ass for Heroin”. Lyrically, this track is very much like bounce/psycho to me. Very quirky with a very, very dark tone to the music. Almost haunting. One of my favorites.

11. Lonely Day - This is the lost in hollywood of hypnotize. Very beautiful and sad song. You can almost put yourself in Daron’s shoes listening to this track. “Such a lonely day, shouldnt exist”. Serj compliments as usual with his spectacular voice. Love this track.

12. Soldier Side - The continuation of the intro to Mesmerize. Great track, pretty much like the rest of the album. “They were crying when their sons left, god is wearing black”. This song is about the wars, and the men that die within them. I love how it picks up with the same lyrics as the Mesmerize version, but with the full band.